Fking Normal Podcast

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Fking Normal Podcast

The straight-talking parenting podcast; shining a light on the highs and lows of raising disabled children. Because really, what the f**k is normal anyway?

We acknowledge our triumphs, our mistakes and embrace all of our beautiful differences.

05/07/2024

Lets say it together… happy 🎉 🎉🎉🎉

This week’s entry courtesy of Sarah Billingham from .co is: “My Fking Normal is my daily soundtrack of Rudolf the red nose reindeer on the journey to school… everyday from January to December…🎄🎅🏻🎄”

To be fair… it COULD be a lot worse…😂

P.s catch us soon on the .co podcast 🙌🏻👀

[ID: a pink background surrounding an image of a plush rudolf the red nose reindeer toy. Next to it is a card with handwriting that reads: “My Fking Normal is my daily soundtrack of Rudolf the red nose reindeer on the journey to school… everyday from January to December…“]

28/06/2024

Dearest gentle listeners, We love you. We love this community. Thank you for being a part of it as we navigate or muddle through this less typical parenting path together. We have come to the end of season 3 of the podcast but will be cracking on with season 4, to be released after the summer. If you like what we do - please vote for little old us for listeners’ choice at - https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/voting
Please see link in our LinkTree.

[image ID: pink, black and purple graphic image, with a pink border and the British podcast awards logo middle top, white writing states “listeners’ choice vote now open, vote for” and beneath is the f**king normal podcast logo.]

21/06/2024

Pour a glass of your favourite tipple… It’s time for a 🎉

This week’s My Fking Normal is: “Not being able to leave the house with my daughter without her entourage of bags…”

We feel you! Atleast your not also carrying a scooter they won’t ride for longer than a minute, a toy they throw away immediatley or a range of other items they just *can’t* leave the house without 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s all about silver linings this SEN parenting lark…🌈⚱️

[ID: a pink boarder surrounding a photograph. One the top left side is the Fkingnormalpodcast logo. The photograph is of four different bags ranging in colour from pink and blue to purple. In front of the bags is a note that says- “my fkingnormal is… Not being able to leave the house with my daughter without her entourage of bags.”

20/06/2024

We are recording an episode with , founder of on how she is helping parents of disabled children to be better financially prepared for the future.

We want your questions too! Please leave us any questions for Cara in the comments below.

[image ID: White writing on a bright pink background saying “we are recording an episode with Cara Roughani of on her own story and how she is helping parents of disabled children to be better financially prepared for the future. We want your questions for Cara - so please submit any that you have on finance/savings plans/life cover/wills/trusts etc. by Wed 26th June).” The f**king normal podcast logo is the page header.]

12/06/2024

Hey Parent-Carer 👋🏻

Let’s give ourselves a f**king pat on the back and pour ourselves a big glass of wine this 🙌🏻🍷

Caring for our children is the hardest but most rewarding thing we do and for so many it goes unnoticed, underappreciated and totally undervalued.

But…

We see you.
We know you.
We are you.

❤️

[ID: a pink square with the fkingnormal podcast logo on the top left side. Yellow writing which reads: Hey Parent-Carer. Pour yourself that BIG glass of wine and celebrate yourself this Carer’s Week. We see (and also really understand) what it means to be a parent/carer. Not only are you parenting but you spin the plates of being an OT, SALT, Dietician, Paediatrician, Play Specialist, Driver and PA effortlesly and selflessly. Let alone all the fighting you do to get your child everything they deserve every. single. day. We see you. We know you. We are you.]

07/06/2024

Friday means? ! 🎉🎉🎉

This week’s entry is: “My Fking Normal is having my son say ‘Duck Quack Bed’ at me before launching in for an aggresively affectionate snog. Sometimes he comes up and just whispers ‘quack’ before licking my face…” 😂💋

Wet sloppy kisses from our kids? gimme gimme gimme 😘

[ID: pink boarder with the fkingnormal podcast logo on the left top side. Image is of grey bed sheets with stars, a white lined card with the writing my fking normal is having my son say ‘Duck Quack Bed’ at me before launching in for an aggresively affectionate snog. Sometimes he comes up and just whispers ‘quack’ before licking my face writen on it. There Is a duck that looks like a bee placed on top of the card.]

03/06/2024

Happy New Episode Day!

On this week’s episode we talk to the fantastic Kevin Troy, founder of organic, natural and vegan skincare brand 🥰

Kevin, Rina and Lauren discuss his path to fatherhood, his daughters Downs Syndrome diagnosis and the impact this has had on his life and now business. 🥰

Go stream NOW on all listening platforms ❤️

[ID: a pink boarder with the fkingnormal podcast logo on the left hand side. The image is of a fair skinned man with a slight beard wearing a brown apron smiling broadly. His hands are placed next to two mesh boxes filled with soaps. Behind him are shelves stacked with soaps and other skin care products packaged in bright colours including pinks and blues.]

31/05/2024

Its 🎉 🎉🎉🎉 This week’s entry is from the wonderful Ruth from … Her is… “Wearing an adult sized baby shark costume casually round the house - daily- because it makes my Ida so fking happy!!!”

Do you need a better excuse to wear fancy dress??? 👀❤️

[ID: a pink frame around two adults and a child wearing baby shark outfits. The man smiles at the camera while the woman is holding the little girl, smiling at her. There is the fking normal podcast logo on the too right corner.]

24/05/2024

It’s Friday! Which means it’s time for another 🎉

This week’s entry is from Julia Marsan the guest on our latest episode, who says: “My Fking Normal is sitting in a restaurant with my 29 year old daughter colouring in the comic and a 5year old sitting next to us is colouring in the same comic - staring at her and pouting 😂🙄”

We say- doesn’t EVERYONE like colouring? We know we’ve got some adult colouring books stashed in the draws 👀👀👀

[ID: a pink framed image with the f**king normal podcast logo on the top left side. The image in the middle is of a page in a colouring book showing a Disney princess coloured in in blue and red. Over the princess is a notes saying my f**king normal is sitting in a restaurant with my 29 year old daughter colouring in a comic and a five year old sitting next to us is colouring in the same comic and pouting.]

23/05/2024

In the latest episode of shares her experience of constantly fighting for the right support for her daughter Nicole who has Mowat Wilson Syndrome. Now an adult, Nicole is living in a supported living arrangement, a decision that was right for the whole family and means, most importantly, that Nicole is now living her best life in the way she wants to.

Episode 22 is out now on all major podcast platforms.

[Image ID: Carousel of 3 pages, each with light pink background with dark pink writing

1/3 “Doctor: just take your baby home and lover her. Best advice ever.
Julia Marsan is episode 22”

2/3 “Guilt overlays everything we do as a parent. Remember you didn’t sign up to it and you are entitled to a life” Julia Marsan, on the decision to support her disabled daughter moving into supported living”

3/3 “I think as a mother you feel you have to forgo life. Letting her go was about me learning to let go, not a question of whether she wanted to go.” ]

20/05/2024

In this week’s episode, we talk with the wonderful Julia Marsan on supporting her disabled daughter, Nicole, in the transition to adulthood. Julia shares her story of parenting two children with different additional needs. We discuss how Julia and her husband have fought for Nicole’s pathway through education and, later into supported living, where she now lives “the best life, in her own way”.

🩷 🩷 🩷

Episode 22 is available now on all major podcast platforms.

[Image ID: A white women (Julia) with cropped grey hair and sunglasses, smiles at the camera on a beach. Julia is wearing a white top and the sea can be seen in the background. The image has a bright pink border, with the f**king normal logo top left and episode title bottom right]

17/05/2024

It’s FRIDAY which means it’s also 🎉 Starting strong with our first dedicated post is this:

“My Fking Normal Is… Having multiple Mr Tumble’s dotted around the house incase one or the other breaks, dies, gets lost!!”

Ahhh good ol’ Mr T 😂

Comment your and you may just see it on the grid 👀👇

[ID: a pink frame with the FkingNormal Podcast logo on the left hand side. The image in the middle is of two Mr tumble stuffed tops surrounded by batteries.]

08/05/2024

We recently spoke with PDA parent Suzanne McManus on how she has learnt to change her parenting approach to support her two autistic children. Suzanne takes a low demand parenting approach and is still very much learning how to make this work. She shared her own parenting journey with a raw honesty and brilliant sense of humour in our most recent podcast episode.

Today also happens to be PDA awareness day. A day to increase awareness and acceptance. PDA stands for pathological demand avoidance and is a particular autistic profile, where the autistic person is driven to avoid everyday demands, has a pervasive desire for autonomy and may extreme levels of anxiety when facing everyday demands.

Episode 21 is available now on all major podcast platforms.

[Image ID: Carousel of 2 pages, each with light pink background with dark pink writing

1/2 “Nothing changes before diagnosis and after diagnosis. The same children are yours and you love them exactly the same. They have the same strengths, challenges, complexities and joy.”
Suzanne McManus in Ep 21 as we talk about learning and relearning to parent our disabled children.

2/2 “Low demand parenting does not mean no demand. You want to reduce anxiety so that your children have the best mental health. That they can be their best selves, that they can learn to the best of their ability.” ]

06/05/2024

In this week’s episode, we talk with Suzanne McManus, BBC commissioning editor, on raising her autistic boys. She shares insights on the new parenting approach she has adopted to support her children, particularly her eldest who has a PDA profile of autism.

Suzanne is responsible for spearheading the recent incredible show The Assembly. We talk about how neurodiversity is represented on television and Suzanne’s own mission to encourage employers (starting with the BBC) to ring fence more part time roles for people who’ve had to leave full-time work to care for family members with disabilities.

It’s a warm, funny and candid discussion that we could have continued for days! 🩷 🩷 🩷

Episode 21 is available now on all major podcast platforms.

[Image ID: A white women with brown straight hair and a fringe, wearing a dark blue blazer smiles broadly at the camera. The image has a bright pink border, with the f**king normal logo top left and episode title bottom right]

19/04/2024

On Wednesday night we hosted our inaugural Fu***ng Normal live recording event. We laughed and cried and ate and drank and some massive thank yous are in order!! Thank you for sponsoring the event and to .dimmitt for making this all possible. Thank you for hosting and stepping in at the last minute - an absolute testament to SEN parents getting s**t the f**k DONE. Thank you for these incredible photos. Thank you for the videography. Thank you Parcel Yard for hosting. Thank you .uk .dimmitt and for donating prizes to our competition.

But most importantly thank YOU so much to everyone that came and to those that tuned in and continue to tune in to the podcast. We can't do this without you!!

Keep your ears peeled (!?) for the recording of the live episode!! The next event will be even bigger and we can't wait to meet more of our incredible community.

I'm now going to clean my kitchen of the dozen eggs that have been smashed one by one whilst I've been writing this because WHAT THE F**K IS NORMAL ANYWAY?! 🥚 ❤️

16/04/2024

Tomorrow we have our first ever live recording event and we are BEYOND excited!! For those of you who cannot make it we are (fingers crossed on our tech skills) going to live stream right here. Join us from 7.45pm 🤞🏼

Image description: on a pink background text in yellow reads - Join us for a live recording of.... F**king Normal Podcast in partnership with our friends at Hibi. Wednesday 17th April @ 7.45pm live on Instagram. From the bottom right corner a photo of Lauren and Rina laughing and looking very excited.

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10/04/2024

We spoke with Camilla Cook, teacher and mum to two who left her life, job, home (and cat!) behind in Tanzania and relocated back to the UK during the COVID pandemic at the time her youngest child Sylva was born with a genetic condition which is still undiagnosed.

How has your life rerouted in other ways following the birth of your disabled child?

Episode 19 is out now on all major podcast platforms.

[Image Description: 3 carousel images showing light pink background and bright pink writing reading:

1/3: “I think it’s Eddie Izzard’s standup gigs, where she talks about the Etch A Sketch end of the world… You turn it upside down and shake it away. It just somehow felt a lot like that. Everything was thrown in the air.”

Camilla Cook on uprooting and rerouting her life. She was living in Tanzania during the COVID pandemic as her youngest child was born with a rare as yet undiagnosed condition.

2/3: “We went to our 20 week scan thinking “God, imagine if something was not right”. And then something wasn’t right… Covid and Tanzania added a weird flavour to it. It was all very, very stressful. And I wish I could say I just took it in my stride, but no.”

3/3: “I lived in a Buddhist country for 3 years and I never quite got the idea of meditation. It took having a disabled child to realise it’s really valuable. To just try and drown out the noise of everything else and enjoy what’s right here in front of you.”

08/04/2024

New Week, New Episode! ‼️‼️‼️

On this weeks episode hosts Rina and Lauren are joined by teacher and mum of two to talk about her experience of unexpectedly leaving her life, job and friends in Tanzania, moving back to the UK during the COVID pandemic and coming to terms with her youngest daughter Sylva’s undiagnosed genetic condition. ❤️

Camilla talks openly and honestly about the impact such life changing events had on her, the difficulties she faced when she realised she wouldn’t be going back to Tanzania (and how importsnt it was to relocate the family cat!) plus the amount of help, guidance and privilege she had when she made it back to the UK. 🥰

Go Stream Now On All Major Platforms 💨

**KINGNORMALPODCAST

[ID: A blonde white woman, Camilla Cook, with a whispy fringe smiling broadly at the camera in a selfie style. The image is surrounded by a bright pink border. The f**king normal podcast logo on the top right and ‘Episode 18: Uprooting and Rerouting with Camilla Cook’ is written in yellow in the bottom right corner.]

13/03/2024

- an only child living in London, describes the challenges of caring for her 8 year old daughter Amelia who has a rare genetic condition, at the same time as becoming designated carer for both her parents in New York. As Rachel puts it, she felt like she was competing in the caring olympics, but without any time for training! Rachel eventually faced burnout and had to take time out and relook at how she juggled and prioritised everyone’s needs, including her own, differently.

Episode 17 is on all podcast platforms now.

[Image description:
Four carousel images show a light pink background with bright pink text reading -
1/4 “The “sandwich generation” is defined as those who are caring for both elderly parents and their own dependent children. The challenges of a diagnosis journey for your daughter (who has a rare genetic condition) while simultaneously caring for both your parents."

2/4 'Caring is pretty synonymous with advocacy.
Expect to have to battle and question and push and follow up.
No matter who you're looking after you have to stay on top of all the detail and be one step ahead. So you're constantly pushing things forward.’

3/4 ‘It has been quite intense at times, I was flying back and forth to New York (where my parents are) and attending appointments for A, trying to get to the bottom of her diagnosis whilst also trying to hold down a full time job.’

4/4 ‘I had a period of burnout. It was my body saying ‘no thank you we are done now’
Part of the recovery from that time was practicalities and care, hacks and shortcuts and part of it is about giving yourself more compassion and permission to not do everything to the best possible degree all the time because it’s frankly not possible.
Being happy with things being good enough at times and that’s ok.’

08/03/2024

A timeline of the F**king Normal Podcast - taking a moment to reflect on where it all started - a group of Women, Mothers, who mostly had never met in person. Supporting each other through a worldwide pandemic, isolated with our children.
Friday night zooms, a safe, raw, rants a plenty whatsapp group and when we eventually could; face to face meet ups, from which lifelong friendships and through pure passion, self motivation, collaboratvie encouragement, working together equally this incredible podcast was created.

In our parent carer community we are often striving for an inclusive world for our children, we forget that by being a female led project, collaboratively co creating a podcast, valuing each other equally, working together, putting our individual and collective wellbeing before the success of the project we are leading and creating a working example for an equal and inclusive world.

International Women's Day 2024 imagines a gender equal world.
A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality.
Collectively we can all
- last paragraph is quoted from website.

[Image description: in comments]

26/02/2024

We're baaacckk! Series 3 Episode 16 is on all your favourite pod platforms NOW! 🩷🩷🩷

In this episode, Rina and Lauren talk with nutritionist, health professional and SEND mum .

Nicole candidly shares how, despite her professional knowledge, she neglected to look after her own health and wellbeing in the early days before and after her daughter was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. This frank and joyful conversation goes from unhealthy coping mechanisms and a discussion on self-blame, to the decision to have a second child and lots of simple wellbeing hacks that Nicole now uses and shares with others.

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[Image Description: In this image we see a close up picture of Nicole a Black Woman, her long black hair frames her smiling red lipstick adorned face, she has a delicate nose stud in her nose and we can see gold hooped earrings in her ears. The image is surrounded by a pink border, the f**king normal podcast logo in the top left and ‘Episode 16: Wellbeing with Nicole Stephens’ is written in yellow in the bottom right corner]

19/02/2024

Series 3 is on the way!!! We have a whole host of really incredible guests and conversations to
share with you - hear more on our trailer episode which is out now x

We also have some very, very exciting news.

For the last year, we have been supporting the team behind the new parent carer app, Hibi, who have kindly agreed to sponsor this series. Hibi is an incredible resource for parent carers a one stop app which records everything from appointments, medicines and medical timelines to providing advice and a place to connect with other carers in your community.
This podcast is our passion and its so important to us to remain independent and completely in control of our content, we have our own goals and objectives and will not compromise on those and when the idea of sponsorship was suggested from a team who very much share the idea of supporting parent carers and their families working together with them the partnership made sense. Hear more about this amazing app, Hibi, on our trailer episode where we speak to co-founder of Hibi Sam and the resonating reasons why they started the app.

Series 3 Trailer on all podcast platforms now. [ImageID: two women (Lauren and Rina stand laughing and talking into a microphone on a stand). Lauren in the middle with cropped brown hair and navy jumpsuit and Rina on left with long brown hair and white jumper. The foreground shows a neon “on air” sign leaning against two laptops. Image border bright pink with fkingnormal logo top right and “series 3: trailer is out now” written bottom right.]

11/02/2024

Always so illuminating to try and see the world through our children’s eyes. To take time to notice and feel the world with all our senses. In the busy throng at the start of London’s new super popular balloon museum we stood for a long time gazing at these balloons changing colours. Loved this moment. Here’s hoping it will help me to slow down and take it ALL in more…

24/12/2023

A little celebration of us - creating the F**king Normal podcast is not easy, the planning, production, recording, editing, promoting take time and effort often at ridiculous hours or squeezed in between our parent carer duties, child's appointments and paid work.
We do it because we love it and we know it's important, we do it because ever since day one our goal was to help other parent carers feel less alone.
So to counter act the often stressful, overwhelming and sometimes unpredictable holiday season we decided to celebrate all our achievements and enjoy a small bit of frivolity with friends.
Sending you all so much love this holiday season ❤️
Remember that no is a full sentence.
Frivolity is an antidote to overwhelm.
Allow everyone to just be themselves because really, what the f**k is normal anyway ###

13/12/2023

From heights 😳 to spiders, needles to rollercoasters; overcoming fears so our kids experience life to the max is part of the parenting game, probably as always a little more so in the SEN parenting game.
All these things that we have had to suck up so our kids don't absorb it or simply do the things we a scared of just so they can experience life.

Don't get me wrong, I have to draw a line, I won't do rollercoasters 🎢 or anything that spins 🤢
But my fear of needles was a big one, I had to get to a place where I was totally ok so I could
support my kid and his resilience in the relentless blood tests he has to have.... it's not something I've ever thought about that much because you just do it, just get on with it because "it's not about me, it's about them"
Well, here is a space you can get it off your chest, what fears have you overcome to support your child or let them have the experiences they want?

ID: A young boy in a powered wheelchair sits on level 2 of the Eiffel Tower looking at the rather grey but magnificent view (it's clearly high up) through the fencing - he has his back to us and we can see the back of his bright blue chair adorned with sonic the hedgehog stickers and rucksack. The image is surrounded by a pink border and the F**king Normal logo in the top left corner.

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05/12/2023

It’s the most wonderful (sensory-tastic) time of year…

It’s also the time when every member of family wishes to URGENTLY know what to give our SEN children, for Christmas.

What are your present recommendations?

[ID: Image shows a bright pink background with a picture of a bright tinsel Christmas tree and an incredibly handsome little boy’s back of head, watching the tree (yes, I’m totally biased about my son)]

26/11/2023

Sage advice on parenting an epileptic child, from the wise and wonderful Helen, in S1. Episode 4’s Extreme Juggling episode.

24/11/2023

These are a few of our favourite SEN parenting reads/ audiobooks...

What are yours?

Links on our site- via bio.

[ID: Image shows a bright pink background with 6x brightly coloured book covers. Links on our website]

21/11/2023

It’s the Epilepsy awareness month…

If you see someone having a seizure, here’s how to help;

* Don’t move them, unless they’re in danger, e.g. On a road
* Cushion their head if they're on the ground
* Loosen tight clothing around their neck, to aid breathing
* Turn them on to their side/ recovery position, after convulsions stop
* Stay with them and talk to them calmly until they recover
* Note the time the seizure starts and finishes.

* If the person is in a wheelchair, put the brakes on and leave any seatbelt or harness on.
* Don’t try to move them

* When to call an ambulance;
* If it’s the first time someone has had a seizure
* Or the seizure lasts longer than is usual for them. If you don’t know this- call if it lasts longer than 5 mins
* Or if the person does not regain full consciousness, or has several seizures without regaining consciousness
* Or if the person is seriously injured during the seizure.

Sending so much love and strength to everyone affected by epilepsy.

Photo credit; Thanks to Tracy & Lottie’s amazing homework.

15/11/2023

An unexpected bonus of creating our podcast has been the feedback from health care professionals and therapists who have listened, gained knowledge and most importantly understanding and empathy for families of disabled children 🩷🩷🩷

[ID: Image shows a bright pink background with a podcast review in white text reading - “Just listened to the first episode, I am beyond impressed with these women. Their openness and willingness to discuss their strengths and vulnerabilities is inspiring. I wish I had met them all during my training or just in general.The vital day to day experiences of the parents of these marvelous children, is so important for people to hear to extinguish the isolation we all feel."]

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Videos

What would you say to yourself or other parents who are new in this space? Would you have done anything different knowing what you know now? In short - Lauren says be kind to yourself. Sometimes just showing up and getting through another day is enough. 🩷 🩷 Have you listened to our latest episode yet?? 🎧 🎧 👂 It was a night of love, warmth and community - our first ever F**king Normal live episode is out now on all major podcast platforms. #DisabledParenting #FkingNormalPodcast #ParentCarerCommunity Videographer credit - @elamaiscamera

Anyone else burn the book?? Yes @polldoll!! We’re sure it’s a great book for a typical parenting experience, but when your parenting experience, children’s development and life is following a vastly different path to the one expected, it can be a tough and invalidating read. Our first live event episode is out on all major Podcast platforms now!! LISTEN NOW 🎧 🎧 🩷 🩷 🩷 🩷 #DisabledParenting ##FkingNormalPodcast #ParentCarerCommunity

Just a quick hello from us to say that we have come to the end of Series 3 of the podcast. You can listen to our last conversation with wonderful dad Kevin Troy or any of the previous episodes on all major podcast platforms if you haven’t already. We will be taking a break over the summer, but on before we do… on Monday, as an extra treat, we will release the live event recording we did back at the end of April in conjunction with @hibihealth. So download and tune in Monday to hear the live Q&A hosted by @polldoll with questions crafted by @melanie.dimmitt and from our audience as we talk about what it means to create community as parents to neurodiverse and disabled children. It was a magical evening. 🩷 🩷 🩷 #ParentCarerCommunity #DisabledParenting #Community #FkingNormalPodcast #LivePodcast

Kevin, dad to Coraline, describes his experience of not fully processing his daughter’s Down syndrome diagnosis in the early days. He describes a moment, after undergoing some EFT (emotional freedom technique) therapy, when he realised with clarity that he hadn’t fully processed his daughter’s diagnosis and alongside that fully accepted it. Kevin is much further along in his journey now - fully accepting and embracing of his role as father to Coraline. His family skin care business “Coraline” is also inspired by his daughter. In our latest episode he shares how he got to this point and some candid reflections on his experience as a SEN dad. Episode 23 is available on all major podcast platforms now. #FkingNormalPodcast #ParentCarerCommunity #DisabledParenting #SENDads

We fight so hard for our kids to get their educational and health needs supported throughout their childhood and beyond. It doesn’t end with those early school provisions and is all too often a long slog! It really shouldn’t have to be so hard and we could write pages on what is wrong with the system and how we should fight it. But just wanted to say thank god for those incredible SEN parents who have gone before us like our guest on the latest podcast: Julia Marsan. Julia shares her journey and fight with us and gave us a load of useful tips on the transition to adulthood. My warrior inside is tired, but Julia gave me hope, motivation and a good laugh to boot. Episode 22 is out now on all major podcast platforms. #FkingNormalPodcast #ParentCarerCommunity #DisabledParenting #SupportedLiving

Parenting is f**king hard - no matter the children. Learning to parent the children you have, to support their specific needs and perhaps in a way that you weren’t parented yourself takes A LOT. Sometimes just getting through another day or over another hump is something to celebrate. So keep going and congratulate yourself for being there. In the latest episode of the podcast we talked with Suzanne McManus on following a low demand parenting approach for her autistic and PDA kiddos. This includes embracing her son’s Pokémon conversations as his love language with her. 🩷 What’s your unique love language with your child? 🩷 Episode 21 is available now on all major podcast platforms. #ParentCarers #DisabledParenting #ParentCarerCommunity #Podcasts #FkingNormalPodcast

Our conversation with @nicky_stephens_ was sooooo relatable, we all have things we label as 'self care' or 'me time' which are 100% needed but, we can start relying on them and potentially neglecting our basic needs. Nicole was wonderfully open about her own health concerns and the wake up call to start looking after herself 🩷🩷🩷 #ParentCarerCommunity #Wellbeing #SelfCare #ParentMentalHealth #ParentCarerWellbeing #MeTime #MummyMeTime

Merry Christmas everyone ###

Sometimes the exhaustion of it all leaves you in a fog. I am definitely not as articulate as I once was. 😫 #disabledparenting #fkingnormalpodcast #senparenting

A huge thank you to all of our guests from Series 2 @bryonykimmings @autiemumandmax @con_pea @sophiejacckson @emmawillbefine @miriam_elia_artist #EmmettdeMonterey @gemmasherlockinteriordesign @melaniedimmitt @tinukeawe @charlottefoxweberpsychotherapy 🎧 Catch up now on all your favourite POD platforms - link in bio 🔗

Disregulation in you and your child - acknowledging the separateness in your emotions - watch to learn more 🩷 #ParentalBurnout #DisabledFamily #SENParenting #SENCommunity #ParentCarerSupport #TalkingTherapy #CBT #Psychotherapy #Disregulation #MumGuilt #Emotions

The problem with parental burnout? There is no line manager to arrange cover, no paid leave, it's up to us, we are the end of the line 😐 Information on short-breaks for families with disabled children can be found on your local authorities website. More information is provided by the organisation @contactfamilies If any of the issues in this episode affect you or you need more support, please speak to your GP, paediatrician, CAMHS (there are some SEN parent specialists, in certain parts of the country), your local special parent forums (via the local council website), your child's school or close trusted friends and family. You can self refer to the NHS for free psychological talking therapies at NHS talking therapies - NHS (www.nhs.uk) @nhsmind @nhsengland Other organisations for help include: Samaritans @samaritanscharity ([email protected]), Mind @mindcharity , also have a list of specific diagnosis support groups for parents. #ParentalBurnout #DisabledFamily #SENParenting #SENCommunity #ParentCarerSupport #TalkingTherapy #CBT #Psychotherapy

More excellent reframing of the dreaded guilt from @charlottefoxweberpsychotherapy #ParentCarer #SENparenting #SEN #Therapy #Psychotherapy #ParentCarerSupport #SENCommunity #DisabilityAwareness #SpecialNeedsParenting #MumsSupportingMums

The system is bad enough to access support when we want it - but when you face dismissal, denial and stigmatisation not only from society, the school system, health professionals but also from within your own community, what the f**k are you supposed to do. Knowledge is Power - Awareness, Representation, Conversation and Discussion are the key to change - we know this is true with our own experiences of ableism in the disabled community. So, we felt it important to add to the discussion on our platform and open a conversation within our community on the challenges faced by black families with disabled and SEN children. All of the following clips show what is lacking and how this is unacceptably rooted in systems of institutionalised racism. Our conversation with @tinukeawe is Episode 14 and can be found on all podcast platforms or through the link in our bio. Find out more about Tinuke and the abundance of work she is doing to make major changes @fivexmore_ and @learningwithez Our next episode will be released next week so you have some time to catch up and listen to this and all of series 2.... what are you waiting for? ☺️

The learning and unlearning is constant for parent carers 🩷 Listen to the whole episode now, link in bio x #ParentingPodcast #HonestParenting #Podcast #F**kingNormalPodcast #PodcastTeam #SENparenting #PodcastsofInstagram #SEN #CerebralPalsy #Connection #Diagnosis #ParentCarers #DisabilityAwareness

Five episodes in to series 2 and what an incredible source of knowledge, powerful and interesting stories from our guests! Listen now to series 2 on your favourite podcast platform. Link in bio x

Being able to share your kids milestones which are not within the expected "norm" with people who get it is one of the most rewarding things about this community. In particular when those achievements are something which you had accepted may never happen or just let go of pushing for it the excitement, pride and sheer glee is infectious; so we were delighted when @miriam_elia_artist shared her son's incredible news in Episode 11!! Well done Sid, we know how much this means 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

“Just Be Normal” explores the topics of Autism and neurodiversity. Sophie wrote the play and stars in it alongside her sister Emma. It is inspired by their own lives and personal stories. Written off as the problem child, the play explores how Emma (the older of the two sisters) seeks to understand her Autism better as she comes to terms with the fact that even those closest to her are poorly equipped to help her on her journey. Meanwhile Sophie secretly struggles with her own unidentified neuro-divegence, which is reflective of Sophie’s quite recent real-life discovery that she’s been living with OCD. The play was shown at the VAULT Festival in March this year....look out for more from Sophie and Emma and Connor's production company Akimbo. Sadly VAULT Festival has been dealt the devastating blow of being told by its landlord, The Vaults, that it must find a new home for future festivals as the venue is instead looking at other more commercial projects. This decision leaves VAULT Festival without a home for 2024 and beyond and poses a significant threat to our survival and to the wider creative industry. PLEASE SUPPORT: #SaveVault campaign https://vaultfestival.com/save-vault/ https://www.givey.com/vault

One of many examples from episode 9, when Jazz Manley did not only have her concerns about son Max dismissed but was directly blamed for his delays again and again causing serious damage to her own mental health. Episode 9 is available now on all podcast platforms. ⚠️ Content Warning ⚠️ This episode contains reference to and details around attempted suicide. If you are affected by the content or concerned about anyone you know, please reach out for help. Suicide is preventable, and support is available. We have included some links in our bio.